Tandem tractor hitch



Oct. 17, 1950 c.w. LEIGHNOR 2 5,

TANDEM TRACTOR HITCH Filed July 19, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PIE-L CLAnK W.LEIGHNOP.

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Oct. 17, 1950 c. w. LEIGHNOR TANDEM TRACTOR HITCH Filed July 19, 1949IE1 {ES-E 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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Patented Oct. 17, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TANDEM TRACTOR"-HITCHClark W3 Leighnor, Hutchinson, Kans.

Applicationfiuly 19, 1949, Serial No; 105,483

4 Claims. (01. zed-33.5)

This invention relates I to tractor hitch devices foragriculturalimplements, and more particularly to a tandem hitch device whereby twodifferent agricultural implements may be simultaneously drawn by atractor.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedtandemhitch device for attaching' two agricultural implements to atractor, said device being simple in construction, allowingthe tractorto be turned to the right or left without piling up of the tools beingdrawn thereby'or damage to the tractor, and wherein the left-hand -toolor implement will advance forwardly on a left-hand turn, therebyincreasing the clearance between the left and right implement or toolbeing drawn by the hitch device.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved tandem hitchdevice for connecting agricultural implements to a tractor, said deviceallowing the use of various sizes of implements, providing equal balanceof the tractive force on the implements without side draft, allowing theuse of diiferent tools simultaneously, such as a disc harrow on the leadside of the hitch device and a drill on the following side of the hitchdevice, thus allowing the ground to be worked on one side, whereas it isseeded on the other side of the device, whereby the agriculturaloperations are speeded up, time and labor are saved, and the number oftrips over the ground necessary in.

seed bed preparation greatly reduced.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved tandemtractor hitch device which isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture,which permits one man to perform multiple operations; whichis easy toattach, and which is relatively compactin size.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a tractorhitch device constructed inaccordance with the present invention, showing the rear portion of atractor to which the hitch device is attached;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the tractor hitch device shownin Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view taken on line 3-3 ofFigure 1;

Figure l is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3; I

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figurel; I

Figure I 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on-line 6--6 ofFigure 1.

Referring to the drawings, II designates the" main longitudinal drawbarof the tandem hitch coiled spring I9 which is placed in tension whenbeam I5 swings clockwise with respect to drawbar II. Pivoted to theright end of beam I at for rotation around a vertical axis is a wheelbracket 2I provided with a stub shaft 22 on which is journaled aground-engaging wheel 23. Bracket 21 extends parallel to drawbar II.Pivoted to drawbar II at 24 rearwardly of the main transverse beam I5 isa bracket member 25. Bracket member 25 is connected to the end of wheelbracket 2| by a tie rod 26 extending parallelto main beam I5, the end ofthe tie rod 26 being pivotally engaged with the wheel bracket 2 I,whereby a parallelogram linkage is defined by the respective elementsI5, I I, 25, 26 and 12I.

Secured to the right end portion of main transversebeam I5, as viewed inFigure 1, is an apertured tool-hitching plate 27.. As shown in Fig; ure1; an agricultural tool, such as a seed drill 28, ma be pivotallyconnected to the main beam I5 at plate 21. As shown in Figure l, theleft side portion of the drill 28 may be connected to the intermediateportion of main beam I5 by a chain 29 andaspring 30, whereby tension isdeveloped in said spring when the drill 28 swings clockwise with respectto the beam I5. I

Pivotally-connected at 31 to the left end of beam I5, as viewed inFigure 1, for rotation in a horizontal plane is a longitudinal side beam3| carrying a stub shaft 32 on which isjournaled a secondground-engaging wheel 33. It will be noted that wheel 33 is spacedrearwardly with respect to wheel-23. Connecting the mid portion of sidebar '3I to the endof main drawbar I I a link bar 34, the link bar 34having the respective pivotal connections, shown at 35 and 36, with theside bar 3| and the drawbar II. Thedistance between pivotal connection35 and 3'! is substantially greater than the distance between pivotalconnections I4 and 35-;so thatwhen the drawbar I I swings around thepivot point I4, the angular rotation of the plane of wheel 23 will bealways greater than the angular rotation of the planeof'wheel 35; I

Side bar 3| is stiffened and braced against flexure by a suitable trussrod 38. Secured to the rear end of bar 31 is tool-hitching plate 39. Anagricultural tool, such as the disc harrow 40 may be pivotally connectedto plate 39 at H, as shown in Figure 1.

When the tractor I2 makes a turn to the right, as viewed in Figure 1 (aleft turn as viewed by the operator of the tractor), the drawbar llswings counterclockwise with respect to the main transverse beam [5, asshown in dotted view. iDue to the length of the side bar 3! and theaction of the inclined link bar 34, the tool 40 is moved outwardly awayfrom the tool 28 as the turn is ;made, preventing collision of thetools, the tool :28 moving around the turn in advance of the 'tool 40.The wheel 23 turns in unison with the drawb ar ll, preventing skiddingof the wheel. ;Since the wheel 33 moves in a much greater are :in thistype of turn than the wheel 23, its rate =of turn must necessarily beless than that of wheel .23. This is accomplished by making the distanceibetween pivot points 35 and 3'! greater than the distance between pivotpoints i and 35, as above described. On completing the turn, the spring19 restores the transverse beam ii to its normal :angular relation todrawbar H. The spring 19 :also provides compensation for different sizesof tools pulled simultaneously by the hitching device by allowingtransverse beam is to assume a normal angular position with respect todrawbar I l determined by the relative drag resistance of the two toolshitched to the device.

When the tractor makes a turn to the left, as viewed in Figure l, i. e.,a right turn as viewed by the operator of the tractor, the tool 28automatically advances forwardly with respect to the tool 40, providingclearance between the two tools. The main transverse beam l5 carries adepending stop lug 42 which is engaged by a depending stop lug 43carried by the drawbar l l at the right side of lug 42, as viewed inFigure 1, which prevents main beam is from rotating clockwise withrespect to drawbar H. Therefore, the bracket 2! and side bar 3! remainfixed with respect to drawbar I I when the tractor makes a turn to theleft, .as viewed in Figure 1. This maintains the nor- ;mal spacing ofthe tools 8 and iii? in making such a turn.

From Figure 1 it will be seen that the left side The plate 2? issimilarly provided :able the tool connected thereto to be positioned IWhile a specific embodiment of a tandem hitch devic v for connecting apair of agricultural implements to a tractor has been disclosed in theforegoing description, it will be readily understood that variousmodifications within the spirit 4 of the invention may occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations beplaced on the invention except a defined by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

l. A tandem tractor hitch device of the character described comprising adrawbar adapted to be connected at its forward end to a tractor, atransverse beam pivotally connected at its intermediate portion to theintermediate portion of the drawbar, a side bar pivotally connected toone end portion of said beam, a first groundengaging wheel journaled tosaid side bar, a first link bar connecting said side bar to the rear endportion of the drawbar, a wheel bracket pivoted to the other end portionof said beam, a second ground-engaging wheel journaled to said wheelbracket, a second link bar connecting said Wheel bracket to saiddrawbar, said second link bar being parallel to said beam, and means forattaching respective tools to the end of the side bar and the said otherend portion of the transverse beam.

2. A tandem tractor hitch device of the character described comprising adrawbar adapted to be connected at its forward end to a tractor, atransverse beam pivotally connected at its intermediate portion to theintermediate portion of the drawbar, a rearwardly-extending side barpivotally connected to one end portion of said beam, a firstground-engaging wheel journaled to said side bar, a first link barconnecting the intermediate portion of said side bar to the rear endportion of the drawbar, a wheel bracket pivoted to the other end portionof said beam, a second ground-engaging wheel journaled to said wheelbracket, a second link bar connecting said wheel bracket tosaid drawbar,said second link bar being parallel to said beam, the first wheel beingrearwardly spaced with respect to said second wheel and the first linkbar being inwardly and forwardly inclined from said side bar, and meansfor attaching respective tools to the end of the side bar and the saidother end portion of the transverse beam.

3. A tandem tractor hitch device of the character described comprising adrawbar adapted to a be connected at its forward e'ndto a tractor, atransverse beam pivotally connected at its'intermediate portion to theintermediate portion of wheel bracket to said drawbar, said second linkbar being parallel to said beam, the first wheel being rearwardly spacedwith respect to said second wheel and the first link bar being inwardlyand forwardly inclined from said side bar, means for attachingrespective tools to the end of the side bar and the said other endportion of the transverse beam, means resiliently connecting the forwardportion of the drawbar to the side portionof the transverse beamadjacent said side bar, and means limiting rotation of the drawbarforward portion toward the side bar.

4. A. tandem tractor hitch devi ce of the character described comprisinga drawbar adapted to be connected at its forward end to a tractor, atransverse beam pivotally connected at its intermediate portion to theintermediate portion of the drawbar, a rearwardly-extending side barpivotally connected to one end portion of said beam, a firstground-engaging wheel journaled to said side bar, a first link barconnecting the intermediate portion of said side bar to the rear endportion of the drawbar, a Wheel bracket pivoted to the other end portionof said beam for rotation around a vertical axis substantially alignedwith the axis of the transverse beam, a second ground-engaging wheeljournaled to said wheel bracket, a second link bar connecting said wheelbracket to said drawbar, said second link bar being parallel to saidbeam and located rearwardly of said beam, the first wheel beingrearwardly spaced with respect to said second wheel and the first linkbar being inwardly and forwardly inclined from said side bar, means forattaching respective tools to the end of the side bar and the said otherend portion of the transverse beam, means resiliently connecting theforward portion of the drawbar to the side portion of the transversebeam adjacent said side bar, and

means limiting rotation of the drawbar forward portion toward the sidebar.

CLARK W. LEIGHNOR.

10 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent: A

UNITED STATES PATENTS 15 Number Name Date 1,632,013 Trauger June 14,1927 2,370,468 Hyland Feb. 27, 1945 2,391,503 Page Dec. 2-5, 1945

